Black Swan
by nostomania
Summary: Set immediately after the events of the Season 4 finale. Killian has to work with the Charmings and Regina to find Emma. Will he be able to work with them as a hero or will he revert to his old self now that Emma is no longer around to keep him on his path?
1. Chapter 1

_Black Swan_

 ** _Emma has become the new dark one. The heroes must work together to have any chance of getting her back home. Set immediately after the end of the Season 4 finale. I do not own anything._**

Calm settled over Main street, the darkness having disappeared and taken Emma Swan with it in a spectacular whirlwind- she really was a force of nature. Despite the stillness that had befallen the town, the atmosphere was charged; the overwhelming power of the darkness hung in the air leaving its mark on Storybrooke, promising its return. That was the one consoling thought Killian Jones could muster; the darkness was coming and it was bringing hell with it but he couldn't bring himself to care about that so long as it brought Emma with it. _I love you._ Her last words were ringing in his ears. _I love you too, Swan._ Why hadn't he told her? He hoped that she knew without the words.

He stumbled over to where the dagger lay on the ground, already knowing what was now written on it. He traced the pattern of her name over and over silently willing the new dark one to come to him. Nothing happened. Staring at the dagger he felt anger flare up and take over, burning through his whole body. He could feel his old self taking over; his eyes went dark, his eyebrows were furrowed and his jaw was clenched tight. He could hear Mary Margaret sobbing behind him and he resisted the urge to turn around and tell her to shut up. He hated the sound of crying. _This is the crocodile's fault. His name should be on this blasted thing. I will kill him. I will kill him for hurting Belle. I will kill him for dishonouring Baelfire. I'll kill him for destroying my happy ending, again._ He hadn't noticed that his entire body was trembling until he felt David's sturdy arm come around his shoulder, dragging him out of his brooding and pulling him up off the ground and into a hug. "We'll get her back, Killian." he said, offering him an encouraging smile. _Insufferable Prince. Always so bloody optimistic and full of hope._ "Before we come up with a rescue plan, I need to tell Henry" Regina hastened from the group after giving Robin a chaste kiss on the cheek. Killian was glad when she had gone; seeing her wrapped up in Robin Hood's arms sent a painful jolt through his chest, making him suddenly aware of how empty his arms were.


	2. Chapter 2

"Try summoning her again, Killian." Mary Margaret offered, though the hope had long since drained out of her voice. _Shit. If Mary Margaret has lost hope, what chance is there?_ Killian held up the dagger again but the words wouldn't form in his mouth. Killian, David and Mary Margaret were standing were Emma Swan last stood. Passing the dagger between themselves, they had each tried to summon the dark one several times but to no avail. Robin had left a short while before to look after Roland and Regina had not yet come back since she left to find Henry. _Oh Henry!_ Killian's gut twisted uncomfortably when he thought about what Henry must be feeling; he'd lost so much already. A guttural and animalistic cry was all that came out of Killian's mouth. "It's useless! This is a waste of time, Emma's not coming back, and we've no way to know where she's gone." At that moment Henry approached the trio with his adoptive mother, "You're wrong!" The three turned to him, slightly taken aback by his declaration. Killian thought Henry looked much paler and there was no escaping how red and swollen his eyes looked. He kept his eyes to the ground as the boy embraced his grandparents lovingly. "The Apprentice told us who the sorcerer is; Merlin. He said that he had the power to destroy the dark one once and for all. All we need to do is find him." The Charmings smiled at each other with a renewed sense of optimism. Prince Charming took up his place as natural leader and began questioning Regina, who'd heard some things about Merlin given her depths in the study of magic. " I'd have to look through my spell books, he's only mentioned once or twice and very briefly, but maybe I missed something." David nodded at Regina, "Okay, me and Snow will meet you at your office tomorrow morning; have all the books and anything else you can think of that could prove useful with you. Bring Robin, he can rope the merry men into helping search the Sorcerer's mansion; if there's any clues as to where he is then we should find them in there. Killian and Henry can go to the library and help Belle track down any books on the dark one or Merlin, we need as much information as possible. And hopefully Gold will be up for a chat by morning." Regina gave a nod of approval, kissed Henry quickly, knowing he would want to be with his Grandparents tonight, and turned to head home. "WAIT...WHAT!" Killian shouted, making everyone flinch. Though he had come a long way, it seemed without Emma it was so easy to slip back into Hook. "You want to wait until tomorrow? We should be looking NOW!" he glared at them all in turn. He could feel the anger coursing through him again. David gave him a sympathetic look as if he knew exactly what he was feeling which irked Killian even more. "If we want to have any hope of getting her back, we need a plan. We'll be no use to her searching around aimlessly. And we'll certainly be no use to her if we're so exhausted we'll be no good in a fight. So, for now we are all going to try and get some rest." he said the last part more like a demand, "Aye" Killian replied dejectedly, starting to head in the direction of the Jolly, remembering a large bottle of his favourite rum was tucked away in his quarters. "And just where do you think you're going?" the Prince asked, arms crossed over his chest. "Why, to my ship, mate. Seen as beauty sleep seems to be on the agenda" he replied sarcastically. "Oh no, I don't think so" he said forcefully grabbing his shoulder and shoving him ahead of them in the direction of the loft, "you're staying with us." Killian stopped in his tracks and turned to face the Charmings, confusion written across his face. "I need you on top form to bring my daughter home. I'm not having you drown your troubles on that ship while my daughter is out there alone. She needs you." For the first time that night, Killian saw tears glistening in David's eyes. "Besides" Snow added with a warm smile, "we're a family, we need to stick together." Killian felt such a rush of gratitude towards Emma's parents in that moment. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had seen either of his parents and despite him being much older than the pair in front of him, he felt like he had something as close to parental love as he had ever known. He stumbled forward into a slightly awkward embrace, taking comfort from the royals before walking with them towards the loft.


	3. Chapter 3

Killian and Henry sat on opposite sides of the couch; both were fixated on the dagger that was lying on the coffee table in front of them. Mary Margaret and David had gone to relieve Granny from babysitting. Neither Killian nor Henry had spoken a word since they had left. Killian stole the odd glance at Henry, trying to gauge what he was thinking but he was not so easy to read as his mother. He couldn't help but notice that he had so much of Neal in his face. _Now he's lost both parents._ The anger and pain he had felt earlier subsided a little as, sat next to Henry, guilt overpowered those initial emotions. "I'm sorry" his voice broke in the middle of his apology. There was a slight pause before Henry replied despondently, "I don't blame you." Killian continued; "I should have stopped her. I should have pushed her away or grabbed the dagger from her and sacrificed myself. I should have done that for her, for you, your grandparents. No one would miss me." He was talking way too fast for much of what he was saying to be comprehensible but suddenly he became so choked up that he couldn't continue with his speech and instead broke down in tears, finally unstoppering the bottle of emotions he'd been trying to force away for the past three hours. Henry said nothing, and simply shuffled over from his end of the couch to Killian's end and flung his arms around him in a tight hug, both of them crying into one another's shoulder until their eyes were sore and dry. Killian was surprised by how much comfort he took from Henry's hug, much like the one he'd shared with his grandparents. Maybe he really was becoming a part of this family.

Mary Margaret sent them up the stairs with two steaming mugs of cocoa. Henry threw himself onto his bed, completely exhausted by the events of the day. Killian hesitated by the stairs, eyes fixed on Emma's bed. His brain was torturing him by replaying the much happier scene that had taken place there a short while ago; that smile on her face, launching herself into his awaiting arms, _Killian!_ The two of them falling onto the bed, _Emma Swan giggling_ and the sweet smell of her hair as it fell across his face. With a sigh, he reluctantly traipsed across the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. He removed his shoes and his leather jacket, then curled up in the centre of the bed facing away from Henry, carefully slipping the dagger under the pillow, keeping his hand gripped fast around the handle. "You're wrong by the way." He turned his head to face Henry, "What's that, lad?" "You said no one would miss you. But I would've and Emma. I think maybe even grandpa would've" Killian smiled. This boy really had come to mean so much to him, it was good to know the feeling was mutual. "Goodnight Henry" but Henry was already snoring into his pillow. Killian tried to follow suit but in Emma's bed there was no way to get her out of his head. He was completely surrounded by the smell of his swan- it was intoxicating. He stared up at the ceiling trying to picture where she was now, hoping she wasn't in any danger. He tried to remember every minute detail about her he could recollect. He didn't know when or even if he would ever see her again and he would be damned if he let himself forget a single thing about the woman he loved. He turned his face into the pillow, inhaling her scent as he closed his eyes, longing to find her, when he woke, on the pillow next to him, wishing him a good morning with her brilliant smile and preferably...her kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is so long overdue but loads of stuff got in the way of my writing. Thought it was about time for an Emma POV chapter so here you go, hope you like the direction I'm taking with this. Found this one quite difficult to write so sorry if the quality's lacking. Any comments or reviews would be much appreciated!**

There is a significant difference between being alone and being lonely. Emma Swan had been alone her entire life but had never felt lonely. She never had anyone that cared about her and she had never had anyone to care about. Well, until now. Family had always been an uncomfortable word for Emma; spending her childhood being passed around from pillar to post didn't really constitute family in Emma's mind. But now she knew what it was to love and be loved unconditionally and now she never felt more alone. She looked around her for what must have been the thousandth time since she ended up here. She wrapped her jacket around herself more tightly as she began to feel a chill set in. She was wearing exactly the same outfit (although there were now rips in her jacket and jeans)she had been wearing when the whirlwind took her from Storybrooke. _How long ago was that? Hours? Days?_ The sky stayed the same dark shade, the stars her only source of light, so there was no way she could count the days. _It can't have been more than two, right?_ She appeared to be in a forest, not the best place for Emma Swan. She spent what seemed like forever walking through the dense trees trying to discover where she could be but everywhere she ended up looked identical. _I'm going to go insane in here._ She slumped against one of the many trees and stared up at the night sky, focusing on the stars. Killian had started to teach her how to navigate by the stars, she looked for the ones he had showed her but she couldn't decipher the map, it seemed wrong, different. She sighed and closed her eyes, picturing his face, her parents and Henry. A silent tear rolled down her cheek. _Oh, Henry! I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye. But I'm the Saviour-...No._ Her eyes shot open as she looked down at her hands. _No, not Saviour, Dark One._ She could feel it within her _,_ Light magic mixed with dark magic, and not just any dark magic, the darkest magic that ever existed. She felt it surging through her so strongly she swore she could hear a faint hum of magic radiating from her. She could feel the darkness tempting her, wiling her to test out her new found strength. The buzz had been gradually getting stronger but in typical Emma fashion she refused to think about it and instead slide to the ground, rested her head against the tree and closed her eyes. The silence was deafening. She breathed out a long sigh. _All alone._ And now, alone was definitely lonely.

A humming sound pulled her out of sleep. Standing up she spinned around ready to defend herself but she was met with silence and a deserted forest. Then she realised the noise was coming from her. She lifted her hands up level with her face and studies the palms before flipping them to inspect the backs of her hands. _Strange_. She could feel the magic pulsating around her hands like a force-field. A frown began to pull at her face as she thought of her family. She was the dark one now, why had they not just summoned her back? _Because_ _they're scared._ _I've taken the darkness away and now there's nothing to stop them living in peace. They're done fighting. They have another child._ All her anger was directed at her parents. She didn't care if her thoughts were rational or not, she couldn't stop the torrent of hate pouring into her head and heart like a poison. _Well I can't just wait here to be rescued._ Emma stood up straight, shaking back her shoulders and fixing her eyes with a new resolve that could not be shaken. As she stretched out her arms into the empty space ahead finally letting the magic inside build up and take over, a lopsided smirk etched itself on her face as a thought popped into her head. _After all, the only one who saves me is me._


End file.
